Nokia 3310 (2017) 3G Review

Before I start the Nokia 3310 review, a quick memoir for the Millennials the legacy Nokia 3310 was released in the year 2000, more than a decade ago.

It only has a monochrome screen, without a camera, no internet capabilities, and without a full-fledged QWERTY soft keyboard. People were much happier back then without too many distractions and are pretty contented with the necessities it provides. Not to mention, the T9 keypads enables the people of the era to battle it out on who can type the fastest on these micromachines.

On a good note, Nokia has released a 3G version as some of its markets phasing out the 2G mobile specifications and infrastructure; which includes our “Smart Nation,” Singapore

As a comparison, I have bought both refurbished legacy Nokia 3310, and the new Nokia 3310 (3G) just to see how both squares up.

Unboxing

Basic non-fancy packaging! It comes with essential items like the quick start guide, charging adapter, and a pair of ear-piece.

Simple packaging is the way to goEverything you need to get you started

First Look

From the shell, it seems like Nokia is trying to give the new Nokia 3310 a “modish nostalgic feel.”

The device comes in shiny bright colors, which is available in yellow, red, black and silver. However, they are not interchangeable like the legacy version; where part of the fun during the era are customizations like ultra-loud ringtone buzzers, shiny interchangeable chassis, etc.

The old directional buttons have been swapped with four axes directional pad, which I find it hard to navigate with the directional pad as the contact point is thin. There is also no QWERTY keypads nor any capacitative touch screen, just the good old T9 keypad.

This actually took me some time and keystrokes to compose a 300 character message, and it has a less tactile feel and less “clicky” compared to the legacy Nokia 3310 when doing this Nokia 3310 review.

Nokia 3310 – The New and the Old

On the front view, the new Nokia 3310 comes with a 2.4-inch pixelated screen, resembling like an 8-bit game console output, a 240 by 310 pixels in 4:3 ratio. At the top, the very popular micro-USB2.0 for charging and a 3.5mm earphone jack, a two-megapixel camera and the speakers on the rear cover. Amazingly, It only weighs 88 grams with battery!

The legacy version is simple and distraction free

Moving to the rear compartment, the Nokia 3310 features a dual Micro SIM card slot and a microSD slot that holds up to 32GB of data storage. It is powered by a removable 1200 mAH Li-On cell.

Dual SIM card is supportedMini micro USB for charging

Features

Camera

The two-megapixel camera is still capable of taking stills and videos with a supportive LED flash to lighten up your subject which turns out that the picture quality is below average.

Two-Megapixels Camera with an LED flashActual photo sample taken with the Nokia 3310 (3G)

Operations and Connectivity

Composing a message is already a chore with the T9 keyboard. Operating system wise, the phone runs on Nokia Series 30+, a software platform and application user interface used for Nokia-branded mobile devices since 2008.

This phone features some essentials like Opera Mini web browser, FM Radio, 64 MB internal memory and Bluetooth version 2.1.

Without much distractions and Wifi on the board, life will be happier again! It exists with only one mission in mind – “Connecting People.”

Shall we play a game?

The original Snake game has got replaced by Snake Xenzia, developed by Gameloft. It has now better graphics and different types of play mode. I feel that the keys’ profile is too shallow and less tactile, not “SHIOK” **

Here’s a short video clip of the gameplay between the old and new Nokia 3310.

** Shiok is a borrowing from Malay that has acquired multiple uses and meanings in everyday Singapore English. It is an exclamation expressing admiration or approval, just like ‘cool!’ and ‘great!’

Conclusion

It seems that Nokia is trying to resurrect the old Nokia 3310, but sadly, most of the features have been obsolete, however, Nokia did keep the 3.5mm earphone jack – the new Apple iPhones series do not have them anymore. It also has an excellent stand-by time and battery life, probably because I did not meddle with it too much.

The New Nokia 3310 did bring back many memories, retailing in most mobile phone retail stores at below SGD$100.00, you might just want to buy and relive the nostalgic and carefree life again.

I got my phone from Moblie Hardware located at Burlington Square for this Nokia 3310 review. They do provide doorstep delivery at $10.00 only.